FRA 08-22

June 2, 2022

Contact: FRA Public Affairs

Tel.: (202) 493-6024

FRAPA@DOT.gov

Biden Administration Announces Over $368 Million in Grants to Improve 

Rail Infrastructure, Enhance and Strengthen Supply Chains 

46 Projects in 32 States to Modernize Rail Across Rural & Urban Communities Will Enable 

Economic Growth

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced over 

$368 million in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant 

program funds to 46 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia. These investments will 

play a crucial role in modernizing our country’s rail infrastructure and strengthening supply 

chains, helping to reduce congestion and get people and goods where they need to go quickly 

and more affordably. The program will create good-paying jobs and benefit urban and rural 

communities across the country.

The selected projects announced today will not only improve and expand passenger rail and fund 

conventional and high-speed rail, but they will also increase supply chain resilience and fluidity, 

support short line railroads, invest in new technology and safety advancements, and benefit rail 

industry workforce development and training activities – helping to create jobs and increase 

economic growth.

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has nearly tripled funding for this critical rail 

infrastructure program - to $1 billion a year for the next five years. Strengthening supply chains 

and increasing the productive capacity of the economy are key tenets of President Biden’s plans 

to get goods from ships to shelves more quickly and lower costs for American families. 

"Americans deserve a world-class rail system that allows people and goods to get where they 

need to go more quickly and affordably, while reducing traffic and pollution on our roads," said 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "We're proud to award these grants to improve 
passenger rail for riders and strengthen the freight rail that makes our supply chains and our 

economy work."

“This round of CRISI grants – one of the largest ever – is a major step forward for the BidenHarris Administration’s efforts to revitalize and rebuild the country’s infrastructure,” said FRA 

Administrator Amit Bose. “These awards will allow FRA to support rail projects that lay the 

groundwork for future economic growth.”

CRISI aims to advance intercity passenger and freight rail projects that promote FRA’s key goals 

of safety, economic growth, transportation equity, and sustainable and resilient infrastructure. 

CRISI-funded projects will enhance multi-modal connections, address slow orders, and fix up 

100-year-old track to speed up the movement of goods from ports to rail to trucks to shelves. As 

the nation continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, these upgrades and expansions 

will help state and local governments and rail carriers meet renewed travel demand and 

strengthen supply chains. 

Examples of projects funded this year (full list here):

• Heart of Georgia Americus Sub Upgrade Project (Up to $6,190,137) Georgia 

Department of Transportation

o The proposed project will replace approximately 18 miles of rail, 2,750 crossties, 

and make many more rail upgrades between Preston and Cordele, Georgia. These 

improvements will accommodate 286,000-pound loads and improve reliability,

efficiency, and safety by eliminating slow-orders along 51 miles of Heart of 

Georgia Railroad (HOG) lines that connect at the Cordele Inland Port. 

• Port of Baltimore Rail Capacity Modernization Project (Up to $15,680,000) 

Maryland Port Administration 

o The proposed project will construct four new working tracks and two crane rail 

beams within the Port of Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore, 

Maryland. The proposed improvements aim to meet demand in intermodal 

volumes. The Seagirt Terminal supports multi-modal connections with rail, road, 

and water to both Norfolk Southern and CSX railroad, which support freight 

traffic to East Coast and Midwest markets. This intermodal connection will help 

reduce congestion and speed up the movement of goods.

• Raleigh to Richmond Corridor Infrastructure Engineering & Safety Program (Up 

to $57,900,000) North Carolina Department of Transportation

o The proposed project will perform surveys and complete preliminary engineering 

for Raleigh to Richmond (R2R) Corridor Program improvements between 

Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia. Included in this project is the 

construction of a grade separation on the S-Line in Wake Forest, North Carolina. 

The project will advance the next phase of the R2R corridor development, which 

will eventually result in new intercity passenger rail service on a state-owned 

route that will access currently underserved and minority rural communities with
rail service, as well as improve travel times on the existing Amtrak Silver Meteor 

service. 

• Southwest Kansas Infrastructure Upgrade Project (Up to $10,991,971) Kansas 

Department of Transportation

o The proposed project will make a series of improvements on the Cimarron Valley 

Railroad (CVR) from Dodge City to Hugoton, Kansas. The project will replace 

approximately 51,618 crossties, relay 3.7 miles of rail in curves, apply new ballast 

to 67 miles of track, and surface 85 miles of track. These improvements will 

enable the rail to support biodiesel transport operations as well as local 

agricultural products, raise the allowable speed from 10 mph to 25 mph, and 

increase the weight capacity. 

• Florida Panhandle Rural Capacity Expansion Project (Up to $8,300,000) Florida 

Gulf & Atlantic Railroad, LLC

o The proposed project will replace approximately 70,000 ties, install 

approximately 14,300 new ties, rehabilitate 11 sidings, and make repairs to 60 

grade crossings between Jacksonville and Pensacola, Florida. This project will 

improve the track structure, which will increase the line capacity in order to serve 

growing demand. 

• Great Lakes Corridor Improvement (Up to $21,340,300) Michigan Department of 

Transportation 

• The proposed project will rehabilitate track and rail assets operated by the Great 

Lakes Central Railroad (GLC) just north of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Specifically, the 

project includes installing 4.25 miles of new rail, eliminating joints on an additional 

41.25 mainline track miles, replacing or rehabilitating 11 bridges and culverts, and 

installing approximately 30,000 ties on mainline and siding track. The project will 

result in fewer track defects, derailments, and other maintenance problems associated 

with rail joints. The project qualifies for the statutorily required set-aside for rural 

investment. 

• Development and Implementation of HBCU Based Railroad Engineering 

Program for Underrepresented Communities (Up to $4,592,637) University of 

Delaware 

o University of Delaware will partner with Morgan State University (MSU), a 

Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Baltimore, Maryland, to 

create a railroad engineering program. The creation of this program would 

provide a model for expansion of similar programs to other HBCUs.

By statute, a minimum of 25 percent of this funding must be awarded to rural projects, and this 

announcement includes nearly double the required investment in rural communities, which 

underscores the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to addressing the needs of rural 

communities. In addition, $87.6 million is for projects that support the development of new 

intercity passenger rail service, and $25.7 million is for capital projects or engineering solutions 

targeting trespassing, exceeding the required statutory minimums. Historically, CRISI has 
funded projects that improve safety and railroad infrastructure, reduce congestion, relocate rail 

lines, conduct rail-related research, and enhance multi-modal connections between rail and other 

modes such as ports or intermodal facilities. Workforce development projects are also eligible to 

support the education and training needs of rail workers. 

The CRISI program has drawn significant interest from states, local communities, and rail 

stakeholders since its inception, and this year FRA received more than $1.1 billion in CRISI 

requests, which far exceeds the available funding. FRA applied rigorous selection criteria to 

ensure that eligible projects would serve communities by enhancing safety, creating economic 

opportunities, providing energy efficient transportation options, and helping the country’s worldclass freight network meet growing demand. 

A full list of the FY 2021 CRISI grant awards can be found here.

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